And now, she goes Mexican, sort of: chili

Big companies, law firms, churches, and that ilk, are always concerned with "boosting morale." Now, in Annalena's view, nothing boosts morale like a raise in pay, or telling someone to take a few hours off, but I guess that's why she's not management.
So, as part of her employer's morale boosting efforts, a chili making contest was announced.
Of course, I was all over this one. I may have been the first one to respond, when it was announced with "I'm in! I'm in! I'm in!" NOT that I'm the competitive sort.
Then the response came back. "We wanted you to be a judge." Now, I might have been happier about this had I gotten to wear a powdered wig and a robe, but no. No such luck. And of course, the conflict of interest issue precluded me entering my chili. (I DID think about putting it in under someone else's name, and I thought about it HARD. And then thought it was too close to Lent to do it).
Well, one of the other judges and I both brought in chilis to just serve to people. I will not comment on how I thought mine placed among the various entries. I will say I think this is a very good chili recipe. This is a good thing to have, at this time of year, when you want something very sustaining but not too stressful. There's room to vary things in this recipe, and it doubles, or even triples well. Just make sure you have enough spices on hand before you start. You may think that you do, but check. The amounts are big.

Here we go. For every two pounds of lean, ground beef (use grass fed if you can), you need 2 cups of chopped onions. You don't need to be a surgeon with this, but try to keep em small. You also need 3 tablespoons of ground cumin, and 3 tablespoons of chili powder. Now, chili powders come in all degrees of complexity and heat. You have to be the judge here. If you are a heat queeen, use the hot stuff. If not, mediate it. I use a mix of ancho chili powder, hot chili powder, and sweet chili, with a touch of pimenton, but use your own imagination. You also need 2 chopped chipotles in adobo. You get these in a can, and don't wipe your eyes after you've chopped. Adobo is very hot. (incidentally, you can kick up the amount here, or pour more adobo into the pot). The 'secret' ingredient here, is water. Again, for every 2 pounds of meet, you need 2.5 cups of water, minimum. You will also need olive oil (which is indigenously Mexican, by the way), salt and pepper.

Let's get to work. Put enough olive oil in a big pot to coat it. Add the meat, the onions and some salt and put the heat to high. Stir this stuff together. The chopped meat will stick. Keep breaking it up and stirring, until the pink color is gone. This will take between 5-7 minutes. Then add the other solids, and saute' for 3 minutes. Finally add the water. You can add a half cup of chopped fresh cilantro at this point. The stuff is going to cook down so long that the "soapy" flavor you non cilantro lovers hate won't be there. I didn't taste it in the finished product, so if you don't have it, leave it out.

Give t his a stir. Cover the pot partially, and lower the heat. Go read a book for an hour, come back and stir it. If you're hearing a "crackling" noise, it means it's too dry, and you should add a quarter cup of water (this rule applies through the cooking process). Then go and sit down for another half hour. Come on back, taste the chili (it will need salt), and adjust that. Then, if you want it hotter, add some more adobo, or some jalapenos, or something like that. Don't add more powder. At this point, the chili is finished cooking and the powders will not do their trick.

According to the recipe I worked with, 2 pounds of ground meat serves 4. I think not. But you know your audience, so adjust as appropriate.

You can serve this with all of the standard chili fixins, like grated cheese, sour cream, onions, and so forth. First time around though, do Annalena a favor, and sample it "as is." I bet you'll love it, and I bet you'll come back and do it again.